All this time
by vividfantasy7
Summary: Talisto week prompts - Day 1: Oblivious vs. Obvious
1. Day 1 - Oblivious vs Obvious

this was supposed to be angsty, but whatever

 **Talisto Week Day 1 - Oblivious vs. Obvious**

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She stands in a cold throne room, clad in pristine white next to a man she knows little to nothing of, feels the temperature seep into her skin like the dark magic that resides in the castle of the enemy. No, not anymore; Talia was the sacrificial lamb for that peace after all wasn't she?

Her face masks all fear, all pain and the betrayal she feels - not for her family who did everything possible to stop this marriage from happening but at their allies for forcing her hand. For using her loyalty and goodness and the need to stop this pointless war, the senseless death of her people, to accept the proposal of the enemy - a Xerin princess in exchange for peace (there was no question between the strong and capable Queen to be and the second born).

The 'I do's fill the hall as joy fills the streets of all Ephedia; they mark this as the end of one of the longest wars of the planet - she marks this as the end of herself. After all, all truces can be broken and peace can only last as long as it is desired. And she had just been left in enemy territory forever.

He doesn't touch her for a long time, not until they are forced by tradition - as time goes by she starts to suspect he might've had someone in his heart and had been a victim of diplomacy just as much as her but discards the empathy that wakes within her. He is the enemy and she will not let her guard down (she will not let her heart fall in the wrong hands, not again). He is gentle and careful and in a weak moment she wishes he could love him - but the moment is gone and he leaves her in a room that feels cold and not at all home.

Weeks turn into months and he does not touch her again - not like the night their marriage had been consummated.

He instead brings her books - ancient tomes from times their countries had been one - full of magic both light and dark, song and crystal - and her heart melts a little. (She does love books very much.) Than he brings her flowers; roses red as blood, lilies as white as snow, smiling sunflowers, tulips colored like the sky and Talia stands in her chambers dumbfounded when she walks in on him trying to wave a flower crown and bursts out laughing before she could stifle it and teaches him once he admits he wanted to surprise her (Auriana did love making them and she was a good teacher).

His antics are contagious. She finds herself trying to come up with plans to make him smile - she did grew to like his smile, the ones that reached his eyes and made them sparkle - and so she studies him reverently until she knows his likes and dislikes, what he treasures and what he doesn't.

She finds their values are not so different afterall.

She finds his country is not so different from hers after all.

As time goes by she lets him in; its slow and measured - a part of her still thinks of this place as enemy territory but another is starting to think of it as home. His sister warmed up to her and she to the elder twin - their relationship is more sass and competition than anything but it went from cold and restrained to warm and friendly - and her own sister had grown close to the twins. The peace seems to settle in, trade restarts and grows, ancient laws are overruled and two countries separated mend into a budding alliance.

It is too good to be true, really.

She is attacked in her chambers one night when she is down with sickness - though she suspects poison as it blocks her magic and makes her limbs limp - a sorceress from her country shouting and calling her a traitor and all sorts of slurs before her door burst and her attacker is swept away through a window. He is by her side checking her for injuries and not noticing the other intruder before it's too late - the staff rips through flesh with a sickening sound and the Xerin royal watches in terrified horror as the man she is finally warming up to and considers a friend collapses on her in a bloody mess, unable to move.

It isn't exactly Shanilla, but the power is familiar and surges through her as her staff materializes without transformation and impales the attacker right through the heart and against the wall. Her senses pan and once she detects no more treat the magic leaves her.  
She calls for help and before the guards and healers arrive turns the man on the bed so she can see his face. Olive orbs look into her golden eyes and her breath catches at the soft smile aimed at her.

She wants to hit him. She really wants to hit him. He almost died ( _he still might die_ ) for trying to protect her - a person he was forced to marry, an enemy he must share his life with. She tells him just as much. He laughs weakly as his hand rises to tangle in her hair and the light in his eye fades the slightest bit. She bites her tongue trying not to curse, _where the hell are the guards and the healers?_

"I thought I was pretty obvious."

His voice is hoarse and the healers finally, _finally_ , arrive and take him away while others stay and force her back into bed and under a sleeping cell before treating her too.

Once she is up she doesn't leave Mephisto's side - not even the Queen can force her to leave for more than the time the elder twin spends with the man.

She spends the times as he sleeps holding his hand (though she drops it whenever someone enters) and muling his statement as she thinks back to all the things he had done - he brought her things she loved, things that made her remember her friends and home with a smile instead of a bitter and empty heart. He held her hand and showed his kingdom so she could feel it was home too, he made sure she feeled welcome and not alien. She remembers his smile, the slight color rushing to his cheek when she did something he was not expecting - a smile, a praise for his country, treating him like a friend - and she is suddenly embarrassed.

Was she that oblivious?

It takes a week for him to regain consciousness and three more until he is back to his normal state. She wanders how to answer what he said to her.

She wonders if he even remembers.

He doesn't.

Talia calls him an idiot and a horrible liar.

Mephisto answers that his heart is just as breakable as everyone else's.

Than proceeds to try to teleport away in embarrassment once he realises what he just blurted out but she keeps him there with a firm hand on his arm, and enabling his magic, and says hers isn't any different from his in that matter. His smile is uneasy but he is not trying to run away anymore so she lets a warm smile stretch her lips and squeezes his hand in answer before pulling him back to the tea party they not so ceremoniously left.

They gradually spend more and more time together chatting and sparing and studying magic. He is scary good with enchantments and long spells and she levels him on the training ground (only Carissa was stronger than her afterall). They bond, they laugh, they tell stories.

It's a long time before he admits he was the one who persuaded Praxina to speak to the previous Queen for the treaty - and that's why he initially accepted the role to be the husband of whichever princess the Ephedian Queen sent for the peace. Talia asks what made him change his mind and he tells her how he got injured in battle - he was not wearing royal garbs but just the Zaterran uniform - and an enemy healer still helped him. Healed him and left enough provisions to last till he was found. Once his magic replenished he teleported away but he soon went back - and saw how Xerin was treating the captured soldiers; they were healed and fed and clothed and while Zaterra treated his captives the same that was not what he heard of the Ephedian troops.

So he investigated and realised his enemies weren't the evil people he was taught for a very long time.

Talia looks on with a thoughtful expression before she lets a smile split her lips and simply states that then they both were wrong. He smiles in answer and pulls her to her feet - there is something like mischief alighting his eyes and she instinctively knows that her will either make her smile or hit him . Or both.

"But imagine my surprise," Mephisto starts as he pulls her into an impromptu dance in the garden, their footwear forgotten next to a half empty picnic basket, "standing at the altar, giving up my life as a free man, and suddenly the person who saved my life is standing next to me looking gorgeous and giving me the coldest glare _ever_."

His grin is cheeky and reaches his eyes, so Talia purposefully steps on his foot before she becomes airborne ("Not so happy you've taught me to fly, right, pretty boy?") and his joyous laughter fills the air as he flies after her.

He takes to kiss her goodnight every day. He also takes to kiss her anytime he can.

On the anniversary of their wedding, she kisses him goodnight.

And stays the night.

Izira and Praxina are the worst aunts _ever_. They spoil the twins horribly in Talia's opinion and they just seem so _oblivious_ about her dislike of it. Maybe she should just take a page from her husband and be more obvious in that matter.

It worked for him, after all.

* * *

welp, length wise it's gotten a bit out of hand

at least they all live :)


	2. Day 3 - Switched Roles

**Talisto week Day 3 - Switched Roles**

i've had this AU for a long time, though i did think about doing the dark!Lolirock AU for this prompt

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Talia never thought of herself as stupid though she did admit that she had pulled quite a few questionable stunts when she was younger. But now, backing her enemy into a wall and trying to seduce him made her kinda question things. Just because she couldn't take anymore of Auriana's teasing about having a crush on this dimwitted idiot (ok, he wasn't but she was frustrated) and her severely lacking flirting capabilities. Thus she snapped and taken the challenge. And only than realised that her friend phrased it specifically as a challenge. Sadly, she was too prideful to back away after that. Oh well.

She shifted her fingers lightly on the concrete under her skin and observed the boy trying to avoid her gaze. So maybe she hadn't thought this over. But it wasn't like being Gramorr's (however unwilling) apprentice offered a training on how to seduce your enemy. Though if she was honest she would've been really pissed if it did.

Mephisto started to squirm again but stopped once she leveled him with a dark glare. He obviously tried to activate his magic despite his hands being crystallized to the wall behind him - though to no avail.

Her magic was stronger than his, the only reason they won most of time was because Auriana and her _let_ them. Just because they were forced to serve Gramorr (though who wouldn't when your family and country was literally in his hands) didn't mean they couldn't lowkey help Iris to get her throne back and get rid of the madman currently parading as king. On that note it was all the twins' fault. If they hadn't deserted Gramorr he wouldn't have gone to search for new apprentices and she and the Voltan princess would have been left alone. Then they could have gone and helped the Ephedian heir instead of two dark magic users. Who obviously had little knowledge of light magic.

"Seriously, are you idiots or what?" she blurted suddenly and Mephisto froze looking quite confused as to why he was being scolded.

"Ugh, why am I an idiot again?"

"Why aren't you an idiot to begin with?"

"Princess I'm not sure I'm following your thought process. Especially as you haven't said anything since just showing up. Why am I being crystallized to a wall?!"

"Erm, well…" whatever nerve she had up till now, it went out the window with crushing force. Why was she doing this again? Oh. Right. The challenge.

She felt a blush warm her cheeks as Mephisto's eyes narrowed and she suddenly felt really nervous. No, no, this isn't how it's supposed to go. She had a plan, hadn't she? Corner him, be all seductive and make him kiss her. Or corner him, be all suave and steal a kiss. Or a mixture of these. She wasn't sure of his preference. Now that she thought about it, what if he wasn't int-

"Oi, Talia, your expression is turning awfully scary. Whatever you're thinking, please stop, 'kay?"

"I..." there was a knot in her stomach and she suddenly felt like running away. What was she doing? What was she thinking? She was not the type to _flirt_. How could she let Auriana trick her into this?

Mephisto tried to squirm away again and Talia started to feel guilty. She really shouldn't be doing this - neither to him, nor to herself. Her pride be damned, this was dangerous. Whether it be her feelings, _them_ knowing of it or Gramorr even suspecting it, this would only end badly.

The fight leaving her, she pulled her hands away from the wall and let her magic dissolve. His hands free she thought he would push away and run as fast as he could. But he didn't.

Thoroughly embarrassed, the Xerin muttered an apology and tried to take of (and really wished he could teleport the same way the twins did) but she only managed a few steps before she was pulled back and suddenly only a foot away.

Her eyes darted to his hands on her arms and she felt another blush climbing up her neck before her eyes gravitated to his. Molten gold met with rich olive and she almost didn't notice the scarlet coloring his face. A determined glint entered his eyes - they dropped downward only a moment - and before she even had time to process what happened he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

It lasted only a few moments and her mind only had time to register _soft_ and _gentle_ before he pulled away - his blush back in full force - and this time it was Mephisto's turn to mutter a hasty apology before he teleported away.

Talia stood dumbfounded, her fingers against her lips as she felt her whole body turn into a blushing mush.

 _What… What've just happened?_ Her brain was a bloody mess as she tried to process what went down. _He kissed me_. Her dazzled mind finally supplied as she was slowly coming out of her befuddled state.

"He kissed me." It sounded so much more real (though it _did_ happen so it _was_ real) once she vocalized it out loud.

"He _kissed_ me." A smile split her lips and she suddenly felt like doing a victory dance in some dingy alley, because _he kissed_ me.

With a smile still splitting her lips, she started back to the hideout. She could also tell Auriana that she successfully _seduced_ Mephisto. Which on a technical level was true.

Oh well, a win was a win.

And someday, maybe - though just _maybe_ \- there would be repeat performance in the future.

* * *

tbh this AU turns pretty dark/angsty later on... part of the reason i've never bothered putting it to any media *shrugs*


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